


This Cowboy's Hat

by Betray802



Category: G. I. Joe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-02
Updated: 2012-11-02
Packaged: 2017-11-17 15:09:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/552914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Betray802/pseuds/Betray802
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A chance encounter in a Texas bar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Cowboy's Hat

**Author's Note:**

> Who knows, it could have happened this way! "A hundred and fifteen dollars and a good horse in Amarillo Saturday night," was what Chris LeDoux explained to his new bride Peggy as their immediate prospects for the future, when they got married in 1972. As she was still around when he passed away in 2005 and they had five kids, I guess he rode that horse!
> 
> This was not originally intended to be a coda to 'A Meaning Of Family' (which will be up here, soon!) I just couldn't find another way to end it.

`“Well there's always been groups of people who never could see eye to eye, and I` `always thought if they'd get the chance to sit down and talk face to face` `they'd see we all have a lot in common.” (Chris LeDoux)`  
  
` **Brady, TX**` ****  
`August 1983`  
  
` Bill Hardy sat at the counter, enjoying a cup of black with two sugars and a` `slice of lemon meringue pie. He had three days left of leave before he had to` `report for his new duty station. No reason to rush at all. He nodded to the` `tall, lean cowboy in his early 30's who sat down beside him.`  
  
`"Howdy, pard. What's doin'?"`  
  
`"Not much," The cowboy replied as he sat down, giving his order to the waitress. "I got $115.00 and a good horse in Amarillo Saturday night."`  
  
`"What more can a man ask from life?"`  
  
`They sat for a while, swapping stories of broncs and bulls and cowboys long` `past, and time slipped away. As the sun dipped below the West Texas hills, a` `gang of bikers roared up. They sauntered in – five men, well, to rights four men and` `one teenage boy – and one teenage girl. Bill thought maybe the teenagers were` `the younger siblings of the leader. Loud and obnoxious, they took over a` `booth in the back of the room, jeering and catcalling at the waitresses. Bill` `and` `his friend shared sour glances. Here was trouble coming.`  
  
`And it didn't take long arriving, either. The teenage boy, coming back from` `the men's room, got a good look at the battered Stetson on Bill's head. As` `soon as he told the others, the snickering started. A hoarse Australian voice` `called out from the booth, "'Ey, Tex! Where'd ye park yer 'orse?"`  
  
`Bill just tugged the hat down lower, hunching his shoulders slightly and` `fixing his gaze on his coffee. But the bikers refused to be ignored. The` `biggest` `one stood up and walked across the room, grinning maliciously. "I do believe` `I'll rip that hat right off your head."`  
  
`That was a challenge that could not go unanswered! Bill stood up and faced` `the biker, and not for the first time, the cowboy still sitting at the counter` `cursed the fact that he didn't have a pencil and paper right to hand. Because` `what Bill said next was priceless.`  
  
`"You'll ride a black tornado 'cross the Western sky. You'll rope an ol’ blue` `norther and milk it 'til it's dry. You'll bulldawg the Mississippi and pin` `its ears down flat. And that'll all be long before you take this cowboy's hat."`

 

`Bill reached up and tugged the Stetson off, the better to show the biker what` `he was talking about.`  
  
`"Now, pardner, this old hat is better left alone. You see, it used to be my` `Daddy's, but just last year, he passed on." He pointed to the` `diamond-patterned snakeskin hatband. "My nephew, my oldest brother's oldest` `boy, he skinned` `the western diamondback rattler that makes up this hatband. But back in '69,` `he died in Vietnam. I was in an LRRP patrol at the time, and didn't find out` `for two weeks. His Momma never has forgiven me for missin' the funeral." He` `ran one finger along the golden brown eagle feather waving proudly from the` `right side of the crown. "The eagle feather was given to me by a Northern` `Cheyenne friend of mine. Someone ran him down, somewhere around the` `Arizona-Colorado line. I can't say either the Arizona or Colorado state police` `are in any` `too big a hurry to find out who, either." Bill's eyes got slightly misty as he` `pointed out the silver hatpin with the ruby crystal on top. "And a real` `special lady gave me this hat pin. But I don't know as I'll ever see her` `again."`  
  
`Bill jammed the Stetson back on and looked the biker square in the eyes.`  `"Now pard, if that leather jacket on your back means to you what this hat means` `to me, then I guess we understand each other, and we can just let this be. But` `if you still think this is funny, well then you've got my back up against the` `wall. And if you touch my hat, you're gonna have to fight us all."`  
  
`The air behind Bill shimmered, and the man sitting at the counter could see` `four hazy, gray shadows standing between him and his friend. He looked over at` `the booth where the rest of the biker gang sat, then glanced back at the` `leader, just in time to catch a little sadness in the big man's eyes. Silently,` `he turned back towards the others. They all shuffled on outside, with the two` `teenagers having the presence of mind to toss some money on the table before` `departing. Within minutes, they had roared off into the deepening night.`  
  
`The young cowboy huffed out a relieved breath, relaxing back against the booth. Potential crisis averted. He _really_ didn't want to spend the night in` ` the Brady hoosegow when he had to be in Amarillo for Saturday. He looked up as` `Bill turned around to reclaim his stool. The brim of that battered, beaten` `Stetson was turned up on both sides in an undeniable Texas grin.`

` **Scottsdale, AZ**` ****  
`September 2004`  
  
` Zoya swung in through the front door of her mother's bike shop, shaking her` `head when she saw her baby brother Brady's hanging crib in Zarana Parker's` `office. Mom had come back to work as soon as she was able – after putting off` `maternity leave as long as possible. Brady didn't mind noise, he'd sleep` `through` `anything. Zoya slipped into the office, intending to get a jumpstart on her` `homework.`  
  
`Her mother was sitting at her desk, singing along to a country CD playing on` `the stereo that sat on the table along the wall. Her eyes were staring off` `somewhere in the middle distance – or perhaps looking inward.`  
  
`"You'll ride a black tornado`  
`'Cross the Western sky`  
`Rope an ole blue norther`  
`And milk it 'til it's dry`  
`Bulldawg the Mississippi and`  
`Pin its ears down `

`Flat` `long before you `

`Take this cowboy's hat."`  
  
`The music played for a while, then faded out in preparation for the next` `song. Zarana pressed a button on the stereo's remote control, and a man's` `laconic` `voice with a strong Western drawl came out of the speakers.`  
  
`"Well there's always been groups of people who never could see eye to eye, and I` `always thought if they'd get the chance to sit down and talk face to face` `they'd see we all have a lot in common."`  
  
`Zoya shook her head, her dark-honey braids bouncing off the shoulders of her` `Diamondbacks jersey. "Mom? Earth to Mom. Come in, Mom."`  
  
`Zarana snapped back, jumping slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry, luv. I—I didn't` `hear you come in."`  


`"You were kind of plugged in to the CD." Zoya cocked her head to one side.` `"I've heard this before, when I was still living at Ashley's. Kirk, Davey and` `Rad would play this over and _over_ and **_over_**. I didn't know you liked Chris` ` LeDoux."`  
  
`"I like this particular song. It – and this is going to sound odd – but it` `reminds me of something that happened back when I was still running with the` `Dreadnoks."`  
  
`Just then, the bell over the door jangled merrily, and Zoya stepped out to` `see who had come in. A tall, lean man in a battered Stetson and mirrored` `aviator shades was walking across the floor with the slow, rolling gait Zoya had` `come to associate with the rodeo cowboys she met through her older brother,` `Teague. Below the shades was a handlebar mustache and a wry grin. The man was` `dressed in jeans, a dark blue denim shirt, and a buckskin vest. As he came up` `to the counter, Zoya noticed the snakeskin hatband, an eagle feather, and a` `silver hatpin with a ruby crystal. Then she saw the G.I.Joe patch on the left` `breast pocket of the vest. Parked above that was a pair of gold wings.`  
  
`"Hey there, darlin'. Yer old man in?" Bill Hardy grinned at the preteen` `girl.`

  
`***********************************************************************`

`**This Cowboy's Hat**` ****  
`Written by Jake Brooks`  
` Performed by Chris LeDoux`  
  
`"Well there's always been groups of people who never could see eye to eye, and I` `always thought if they'd get the chance to sit down and talk face to face` `they'd see we all have a lot in common."`

`Well I was sittin' `

`At a coffee shop`   
`Just havin' a cup `

`To pass the time`   
`Swappin' rodeo stories with this`   
`Ol’ cowboy friend of mine`   
`When some motorcycle riders`   
`Started snickerin' in the back`   
`Started pokin' fun at my `

`Friend's hat` `one ol’ `

`Boy said Hey Tex`

`Where'd you park your horse`   
`Now my friend just pulled `

`His hat down low`   
`But they couldn't be ignored`   
`One husky fella said`

`I think I'll rip `

`That hat right off `

`Your head` `that's when `

`My friend turned around`

`And this is what he said`   
  
`You'll ride a black tornado`   
`'Cross the Western sky`   
`Rope an ole blue norther`   
`And milk it 'til it's dry`   
`Bulldawg the Mississippi and`   
`Pin its ears down `

`Flat` `long before you `

`Take this cowboy's hat`   
  


`Now pardner this ol’ `

`Hat is better left `

`Alone` `see it used `

`To be my Daddy's`   
`But last year he passed on`   
`My nephew skinned the rattler`

`That makes up this ol’ `

`Hatband but back in `

`'69 he died in Vietnam`   
`Now the eagle feather was `

`Given to me by an `

`Indian friend of mine`   
`But someone ran him down`   
`Somewhere 'round that Arizona line`   
`And a real special lady`   
`Gave me this hat pin`

`But I don't know if `

`I'll ever see her again`   
  
`You'll ride a black tornado`   
`'Cross the Western sky`   
`Rope an ole blue norther`   
`And milk it 'til it's dry`   
`Bulldawg the Mississippi and`   
`Pin its ears down `

`Flat` `long before you `

`Take this cowboy's hat`   
  
`Now if your leather jacket `

`Means to you what `

`This hat means to me`

`Then I guess we understand `

`Each other and we'll `

`Just let it be`

`But if you still `

`Think it's funny man `

`You've got my back `

`Up against the wall`

`And if you touch this `

`Hat you're gonna have `

`To fight us all`

`Well right then I caught `

`A little sadness in `

`That gang leader's eyes`

`And he turned back towards `

`The others and they all `

`Just sorta shuffled on outside`

`But when my friend turned `

`Back towards me well I `

`Noticed his old hat brim`

`Well it was turned up in `

`A big ol’ Texas grin`

`You'll ride a black tornado`   
`'Cross the Western sky`   
`Rope an ole blue norther`   
`And milk it 'til it's dry`   
`Bulldawg the Mississippi and`   
`Pin its ears down `

`Flat` `long before you `

`Take this cowboy's hat.”`


End file.
